Investing.com - Crude oil futures fell in U.S. trading on Monday after weak factory data in the U.S. sparked a round of profit taking.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in March traded at USD96.25 a barrel on Monday, down 1.55%, off from a session high of USD97.75 and up from an earlier session low of USD95.98.
Oil prices have gained in recent weeks on firming U.S. economic indicators, better-than-expected corporate earnings and also due to ongoing Middle East unrest, though prices fell after data released Monday revealed that U.S. factory orders rose less than expected in December.
In a report, the U.S. Census Bureau said factory orders rose by a seasonally adjusted 1.8% in December, missing expectations for a gain of 2.2%.
Factory orders in November fell by a revised 0.3%.
Elsewhere, Spanish employment data revealed that the number of unemployed people in January rose by 2.7%, or by 132,055, to 4.98 million people, which did little to support crude prices.
Analysts were expecting the number to rise by 150,000.
Investors continued to shrug off Friday's solid economic indicators released in the U.S. and opted to sell for profits instead.
Last Friday, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the economy added a net 157,000 jobs in January, roughly in line with expectations for a gain of 160,000.
December's numbers were revised to 196,000 from 155,000, while November's figures were revised to 247,000 from 161,000.
The headline unemployment rate rose to 7.9% from 7.8% in December.
Also last week, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's final reading of its consumer sentiment index improved to 73.8 in January from 71.3 the previous month, beating expectations for a reading of 71.5.
Separately, the Institute of Supply Management said that its manufacturing purchasing managers' index rose to 53.1 last month from 50.2 in December, well above expectations for a rise to 50.6.
Elsewhere on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for March delivery were down 0.97% at USD115.62 a barrel, up USD19.37 from its U.S. counterpart.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for delivery in March traded at USD96.25 a barrel on Monday, down 1.55%, off from a session high of USD97.75 and up from an earlier session low of USD95.98.
Oil prices have gained in recent weeks on firming U.S. economic indicators, better-than-expected corporate earnings and also due to ongoing Middle East unrest, though prices fell after data released Monday revealed that U.S. factory orders rose less than expected in December.
In a report, the U.S. Census Bureau said factory orders rose by a seasonally adjusted 1.8% in December, missing expectations for a gain of 2.2%.
Factory orders in November fell by a revised 0.3%.
Elsewhere, Spanish employment data revealed that the number of unemployed people in January rose by 2.7%, or by 132,055, to 4.98 million people, which did little to support crude prices.
Analysts were expecting the number to rise by 150,000.
Investors continued to shrug off Friday's solid economic indicators released in the U.S. and opted to sell for profits instead.
Last Friday, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the economy added a net 157,000 jobs in January, roughly in line with expectations for a gain of 160,000.
December's numbers were revised to 196,000 from 155,000, while November's figures were revised to 247,000 from 161,000.
The headline unemployment rate rose to 7.9% from 7.8% in December.
Also last week, the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan's final reading of its consumer sentiment index improved to 73.8 in January from 71.3 the previous month, beating expectations for a reading of 71.5.
Separately, the Institute of Supply Management said that its manufacturing purchasing managers' index rose to 53.1 last month from 50.2 in December, well above expectations for a rise to 50.6.
Elsewhere on the ICE Futures Exchange, Brent oil futures for March delivery were down 0.97% at USD115.62 a barrel, up USD19.37 from its U.S. counterpart.